


A Brother's Bond

by Yuni30



Series: Nymph Hugs [4]
Category: Ni no Kuni
Genre: Accidents, Brotherly Bonding, Brothers, Familiars, Family, Family Bonding, Gen, Growing Up, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-31 03:19:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13966239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuni30/pseuds/Yuni30
Summary: When young Marcassin accidentally breaks his father's old wand during magic practice, he goes to the one person he depends on to help.(This work can also be found as a drabble chapter for "Nymph Hugs" over on Fanfiction.net along with its sibling works.)





	A Brother's Bond

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Like A Brother](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/363636) by Wherever Girl. 



> Hi. This one-shot dwells on Gascon and Marcassin's relationship as kids as well as brothers. I really wanted to dive more into that because I feel like the game lags in developing the Hamelin Brothers relationship. I also wondered why Swaine has a familiar that's outside his favorite genus when you first meet him, so we get to meet Gunther! Yay!
> 
> Anyway. Enjoy
> 
> Disclaimer: I wish I owned Swaine. A mini version. We could steal from the rich and give to the poor on a small scale. I don't own Swaine. I don't own the rights. So, there. My dreams are crushed.

It was young Gascon's dream to work with machines if he weren't royalty. There were so many innovations made every day by the imperial engineering and army. He wished he could learn from them all day.

The prince was a crafty sort, sneaking through the vents on a daily basis- once free of his royal tutors that, to him, never taught him anything entirely useful- to watch them work on some new invention. He snickered quietly when one of them failed, sometimes making a mental note of what not to do when he came up with his own plans.

On days when he didn't do this, he could be found in his room, blueprints of machines he devised on his own littering the floor as he tinkered with his latest prototype or model. He had several "failed" inventions displayed in what would be a luxurious room for a prince, had it not been covered in useless gadgets.

His latest prototype? The "Rough Revolver," a gun that could act like a grappling hook but could be manipulated to grab things from far away. He dubbed it, "Rough" because it still had some kinks to it. He had been working on it all morning, in fact, hoping he could perfect it with some parts he had requested from an engineer friend of his.

As he was adjusting one of the mechanisms, his door opened, the hall light flooding in to meet the light he had rigged over the vanity turned work desk. Papers covered the majority of the mirror, but he could see through the dusty gap a distraught Marcassin running up from behind.

"Gascon, Gascon," he cried frantically, holding two halves of a broken staff in one hand, and eventually tugging on the side of his brother's shirt.

Gascon's hand slipped and managed to catch slightly on a rough piece of metal. He hissed in pain and almost cursed, quickly sticking his offended finger in his mouth. After a few seconds, he glared down at his younger brother. "What," he snapped, immediately regretting it seeing his distressed brother's face.

The toddler of a prince held up the two halves of the staff, tears streaking down his face. "I- I… I broke father's wand," he cried.

The older brother thought for a moment. "You haven't told him yet, have you," he asked, looking down at the contents of his fancy work desk. He began to idly tinker with the gun again, this time on a less finicky feature.

The black-haired boy shook his head, sniffling, bringing the parts of the wand back down to his chest again. He watched as his brother picked up the gun, looking for anything that needed work, besides the obvious bit that had cut into his hand.

"Why don't you try to fix it with magic," the older brown-haired boy asked, placing the gun on the table and looking down at his younger brother. His brother had quite a bit of talent for magic, but he hadn't been monitoring his progress.

The younger brother looked down at the floor littered with small metal shavings from his big brother's projects. He hadn't thought of using magic to fix it. The problem was though, he needed a wand and the only one he had access to was his father's- the wand he broke. Not only that, he wouldn't know what spell to use. He shook his head and looked back up at his older brother. "I need a wand," he reminded him.

Gascon put his elbow on his work table and pressed his hand to his chin in thought. He snapped his fingers and opened one of the drawers, pulling out some heavy-duty adhesive he had smuggled into the palace. He motioned to his brother to hand over the wand. The gooey adhesive was applied to where the staff had snapped in two and the two halves became one again when the older boy pressed it together.

A bright light flashed from the rejoined area and the eldest flew out of his chair, releasing the staff. "Oof," Gascon grunted, bracing his bed as he got up. He looked for the staff, seeing it on the ground behind his overturned chair. It was still joined together, but something about it didn't look right.

Marcassin began to reach for it, but the staff was intercepted by his brother. "Let me try a low-level spell," his older brother suggested. He attempted the simplest spell he knew, one that he hadn't really tried in a while: Form Familiar. The wand sparked and Gascon was sent flying back onto his bed.

"Brother," the child prince called worriedly. He rushed to his brother's side. To his younger brother's amazement, Gascon seemed okay and had somehow held onto the faulty staff this time. "Brother," Marcassin said softly as his older sibling sat up, rubbing his chest.

He glanced around again, looking a little lost. "I feel like something leaped out of me. Something large." They heard a grunting noise and found a Hurly rooting through the older prince's things, studying the schematics for some of his future inventions.

Marcassin clung to his brother in fear, unaware of the creature's origins. The older boy looked down at his younger brother reassuringly. "It's okay. I think…"

The muscular milite turned to face the two, causing the younger brother to hide behind Gascon. He grunted again, this time approaching the princes curiously. As it grew closer, a faint green glow emanated from its form.

"I think…," Gascon whispered, a smile appearing on his face, getting up from his bed and moving away from his brother. He kneeled down to face it.

"Be careful, Gascon," Marcassin called, concerned for his older brother's safety. The Hurly peered around the older prince to look at the young boy. The child inched toward one of the bedposts and braced himself against it while he observed his brother.

Sensing his younger brother's fear, Gascon looked back at him with a smile. "It's alright, brother. It's not some wild beast."

Marcassin leaned forward, believing his brother's words. His fear was replaced in awe. Not even he had formed a familiar yet, despite him having a more natural knack for magic. "Big brother has a familiar…," he asked himself quietly.

The older of the princes chuckled. "So, this is my familiar, huh? And to think, I've never been good at magic!" He patted the Hurly's head, resulting in a hearty grunt while jumping up and down from the tame beast. "I think I'll call you 'Gunthur'." A hefty punch hit Gascon in the stomach and he fell back onto the floor, grunting from the impact.

The younger brother winced, leaning back. "B-brother," he asked hesitantly, peering down at a face mixed with pain and joy. He heard him groan, followed by a chuckle as he rubbed his abdomen.

"I think he likes it." Gascon got up, now almost at eye level with Gunthur the Hurly. "He's got a heck of a punch," he wheezed. His first familiar wasn't a genus he preferred, but considering how little magic skill he had, he wasn't about to be picky. He nodded at Gunthur and the stout muscle-bound creature glowed and became one with its owner again.

The crafty prince held up the wand, frowning. "We can't possibly give this back to father in its current state." He turned his head to look at Marcassin. "We need spells. Maybe, if Form Familiar worked for me, a regenerative spell will work for the wand."

"I don't know any regenerative spells, though," the younger prince confided, shaking his head. He heard his brother sigh and watched as he shook his head.

"You won't be doing the casting. It's too dangerous, Marcassin." He held the wand up and examined where he had fused the two ends together. He sighed again and looked at his brother. "But you will be coming with me. It's as good a time as any for you to learn something new about magic…" He glanced back down at the fractured staff. "And how to properly use it."

Marcassin nodded and he hopped off the bed. His brother picked up the gun and pocketed it. "Where ever will we find such a spell," the child asked the teenager, unaware of any tome of magic spells yet.

Gascon scoffed, heading for the door of his room. "Father's library. He keeps a Wizard's Companion in there." A gasp escaped his younger brother's mouth and he turned to face him.

"We're not allowed in there, Gascon," he warned, not wanting to anger his father. "He said it's off limits to us, remember?" He looked up to his brother, finding that the brown-haired teen had looked guiltily to the side.

"Yeah, but we also don't want him to discover his wand's been broken. I don't know if he has another." He looked back to his younger brother and knelt down to face him at his level. "Don't worry, brother. I'll take full responsibility for it."

Marcassin shook his head again. He looked worried again, not wanting to see his father tell the older boy off again for his lack of skill. "No, brother. It's my responsibility. I broke the staff," he reasoned. "Let's just tell father what happened. Maybe he can fix it."

Gascon frowned, looking down at the staff, then looking at the gun. He had wanted to test it badly and sneaking in to grab the Great Sage's copy of the Wizard's Companion was the best test at the time. But he looked at the concerned face of his younger brother. He set aside his own goals to aid him.

He'd made up his mind: he'd help his brother face his father on the issue.

The older prince met his younger brother's eyes. He reached out and put his wounded hand on Marcassin's shoulder. "We'll go see him, then. Together." The younger prince nodded and hugged his brother.

~*~*~

The Emperor of Hamelin had gone out on an errand the day they agreed to tell him what happened, so they waited until the next morning. The two brothers entered their father's room, broken wand in hand.

Marcassin kneeled before his father, holding up the damaged staff over his bowed head.

The Emperor's eyes widened and immediately shifted to his eldest son who stood a couple feet away from his brother, suspicion replacing the shock. "What happened," he demanded, causing the two siblings to wince.

"I broke it," the youngest admitted. He trembled as the Emperor took the wand from him. The child put his hands down to his sides.

Their father glared at his oldest. "What did I say about watching over him when he practices magic, Gascon," he growled, his bristly mustache riding up on his face.

Gascon stepped forward defiantly. "I didn't know he was practicing!"

The younger prince looked up at his father. "Don't be mad at Brother. It's my fault. I should have told him I was practicing magic first." He clenched his fists even though his young form was still shaking in fear of punishment.

The king continued to glower at his eldest son. "Even so, you should be aware of each other's actions at all times." His face softened when he looked at his youngest, though most determined, son. "At least until Marcassin is old enough to fend for himself."

The oldest stepped forward again, standing right beside his brother. "What use would I be to Marcassin, though. He's already so powerful for his age," the teen assessed. "At this rate, he'll be the one to inherit the throne."

"Would that change how you feel about your brother? Would you abandon him to his own devices," the Emperor challenged his face stern. Aside from him, they were the only family they had. Should anything happen, they would have to rely not only on their own power but each other.

Gascon's eyes widened at what he perceived to be an accusation. He instinctively reached around his younger brother's shoulder and pulled the toddler of a prince close to him. "He would still be my brother. Ruler of Hamelin or not," he confirmed his resolve to protect strengthened. He met his father's gaze, fierce determination ablaze in his eyes.

The younger prince, suddenly being embraced by his older sibling, hesitantly nodded. "Gascon's right."

The king sighed, and he looked at the broken staff. He turned and walked over to one of the dressers in his room, pulling out a long box. "The staff is inconsequential. I'll teach you a spell that can fix it."

The older prince let go of his brother, curious about the box, though baffled by his father's words. "But the wand-," he began, looking at the faulty staff.

The Emperor brought over the box, handing it to Marcassin. "Can be replaced. It's high time Marcassin had his own wand to practice magic with," he praised, opening the box to reveal a red staffed scepter with a golden glass orb at the top.

The young prince's face lit up, picking up the staff that was taller than him. He almost toppled over with it, hearing his father chuckle and claim he'd grow into it. He looked at his brother who was smiling fondly at him.

The Emperor's face went solemn again and he looked at the two of them. "Listen, should anything happen to me, it'll be up to you two to take care of the Empire. If anything should happen to either of you…" He paused. He didn't want to think of either of his sons falling prey to anything.

The two brothers shared a look, a secret vow to look out for each other. It was the Hamelin way to go it alone but putting their own squabbles aside for each other was the way of Gascon and Marcassin- brothers in arms to the very end.

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back. I know… Sappy ending. I also went for a bonding moment between the Emperor and his kids. We don't get to see that in the game.
> 
> How Gascon acts toward his brother in this is actually based on how I react to my brother at times.
> 
> I really relate to that thief. He's fun to play as in battle, especially when he uses Scatter Shot. He does this really neat twirl. Despite his tacky sense of color, the guy has flair: I'll give him that much.
> 
> Anyway. Review, read, and be merry.


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